 |
|
In 1982, the Dubuque Telegraph Herald newspaper conducted a survey to name the new bridge that connected Dubuque, Iowa, with Wisconsin and the Diocese of Madison.
The name “Mazzuchelli Bridge” received the most votes, perhaps because of ways Venerable Father Samuel Mazzuchelli influenced early Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. It was then submitted to the Dubuque City Council, but the council named the new bridge the Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge instead.
 |
|
Editor’s note: We are pleased to welcome back our popular “Grand Mom” columnist, Audrey Mettel Fixmer. We published her last column in November of 2012. This week she explains some of the challenges she has faced in the past 14 months. We hope that Audrey will continue to share her wisdom with us as often as possible. God bless you, Audrey!
Our wonderful editor, Mary Uhler, phoned me a couple of weeks ago to tell me that so many of my faithful readers inquired about me that she felt obliged to offer an excuse for my absence.
 |
|
Q I have always considered my parents to be intelligent and capable of making good decisions, but I wonder if they may be taken in by a new acquaintance who is also in the investment business.
They recently invested in a project that is “going to be huge,” according to the investor. My parents were told not to share too many details because they are a few of the “special people” who were allowed in on this.
It sounds so fishy to me, but they think this is the next big thing but they can’t tell me what it is. Am I over-reacting? (A concerned son in Evansville).
During Super Bowl weekend, hundreds of people escaped the cold temperatures and snowy roads to enjoy the warm and fun comforts of the Kalahari resort and convention center in Wisconsin Dells.
 |
|
| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear Friends,
Last week I happened to be in Jackson, Mississippi (for about 36 hours). Now, why would I go there? Was it because I had never been to Mississippi, and I had never tried their particular brand of Southern cooking?
Well . . . I’ll admit that was at the back of my mind . . . but I would never had made a special trip just for that reason. I went to Jackson for the ordination of their new bishop, Bishop Joseph Kopacz.
Bishop Kopacz is a great priest, about four years younger than I, who grew up with me in the same home parish near Scranton, Pennsylvania — St. Anthony’s in Dunmore.
Just imagine — two bishops from the same generation from the same home parish. If you would, I’d ask your prayers for him as he begins his new ministry in Jackson.
MADISON — Although […]
WESTPORT — Share […]
I haven’t written one of these columns in a while. In between the busyness of the job, the holidays, and a struggle to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, I’ll be honest), my still-developing “On His Time” series has not appeared in the Catholic Herald since October.
VERONA — Students, staff, and volunteers at St. Ambrose Academy are gearing up to present another musical production.
After last year’s successful and award-winning production of Beauty and the Beast, the school is putting the finishing touches on the family favorite Annie.
This year’s musical will again have a live orchestra as part of the full-length version of the production.
The website for the recent Broadway production describes Annie as the story of a lovable orphan, the title character, who goes on a spirited journey with next-to-nothing at an orphanage and finds her ideal family with big-hearted billionaire Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks.
|
|
| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear friends,
You’ve been right at the heart of my prayers in the recent days and weeks. In addition to my usual prayers for your growth in the virtues of faith, hope, and love have been prayers for your warmth and safety, as well as for your joy in these frigid days!
I have been very fortunate to take some time for rest and renewal in warmer climes, as I’m blessed most always to do in January. (There are a number of things for which I am grateful to my predecessor, Bishop Bullock, but on a personal level, I’ll always remain grateful for his wise advice — and precedent — that I take my time for vacation in January, and not in the summer!)
I don’t take for granted for a moment the blessings that I’ve received. I’m grateful and I’m hopeful that such moments of leisure can prepare me all the more for my service.
And so it is with only the slightest sense of irony that the Lord has drawn to my mind the following three words and phrases from our readings this past Sunday: purification, suffering, and a sign of contradiction. And each of those words accompanies the readings, in order. Purification is spoken of in the first reading — Mal 3:1-4; suffering in the second reading — Heb 2:14-18, and a “sign of contradiction” in the Gospel reading — Lk 2:22-40.
